THE winds of political change by-passed Labour MP Peter Pike's BURNLEY bastion as the town experienced a standstill election.

All four parties came out of the campaign exactly as they had entered it.

The new Independent group grabbed Brunshaw from Labour while the ruling group returned the compliment, grabbing back Lanehead from Independent control.

Overall it was a night of no change with Labour having 31 seats and power, the Liberal Democrats nine seats, the Independents five and Conservatives three.

Labour leader Stuart Caddy claimed the result was a vote of confidence in council policies by the people of the town at a time when Labour was expected to lose 10 per cent of its seats nationally.

Liberal Democrat chief Gordon Birtwistle declared: "No Labour seat is safe any more. We are in easy striking distance of every seat in the town - there is no longer such a thing as a Labour stronghold."

Independent group leader Harry Brooks - himself a major winner on the night, topping the poll in Rosehill with 976 votes - said his group had won three seats and had come from nothing a little over a year ago to cement its place as a serious opposition party in the town.

There was victory for Liberal Democrat Mozaquir Ali in Danehouse, the most fiercely contested ward in the town. He beat Labour's Saeed Akhtar Chaudhary by 216 votes in a ward embroiled in controversy and allegations of proxy vote fixing in a bitter election battle.

While the overall average turnout of voters in Burnley was 28 per cent, Asian-dominated Daneshouse recorded a record 70 per cent vote - almost general election proportions.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.